Ignorance is Bliss for a while

Before we came to Belgium, a friend suggested that we start a blog to document all the "foreign experiences" we have. Here's a doozie!

Eric was gone in November. When I actually counted the days he was away, it was only 15, but it seemed like much longer.
While he was gone, we went to Brussels on a sight-seeing tour with my niece, Amanda. We saw the obligatory statues (miniature replica shown above) and walked down a cobblestone street with restaurants lined up side by side with bright red awnings, blazing fireplaces inside, and tuxedo clad maitre d's outside "begging" for us to come inside, warm up and eat something (I think) French. It was romantic and I made a vow that I would wow by hubby as soon as he got home with a fancy date to one of those places.
He returned and was excited that I wanted to take him on a date. We drove to Brussels and found the little peeing girl statue--Yes, it is famous--and then made our way down the bright and welcoming cobblestone street. In a flash, we found ourselves being bribed with a free glass of--something we couldn't pronounce--to come sit by the fireplace and be served something wonderful. We asked for a substitute drink and went inside. It seemed like a nice place. The menu had pictures of beautiful platters of seafood and meats. On the opposite page was a list of prices that were all about the same, so we innocently figured that was the price of the food in the pictures. We thought the price was 24 euros per person and figured we could splurge a little--considering we hadn't been on a date for a looooonng time.
The platter came and it was beautiful! We even had a picture taken--too bad it's blurry. It was easily some of the best food I've ever eaten--crab legs, lobster, mussels, shrimp. I was impressed! Then . . .

came the bill. We were surprised to see that it was a little more than we thought. The platter was 45 euros per person and the total was over 100 euros. We were completely stunned and must have walked out with surprised looks on our faces. (I'm sure they've seen it before on other naive tourists.) No wonder the food was so darn good! That was my one consolation.

Now that I think about it, I should have insisted we sit BY the fireplace. I had to wear my coat the whole time. I would say "next time" but I don't think we will do that again.

So, when you are in a foreign country, always ask what the price is, no matter what.